Brookston Beer Bulletin

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Patent No. PP10147P: Hop Plant named `H900322-4`

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Today in 1997, US Patent PP10147 P was issued, another invention of Gene Probasco, assigned to John I. Haas, Inc., for his “Hop Plant named ‘H900322-4.'” Here’s the Abstract:

A new and distinct triploid hop, Humulus lupulus, plant selected from the progeny of USDA `21055` X John I. Haas, Inc. No. `833-53M`, characterized by an unusually high percentage of alpha-acids, coupled with a high yield. This plant also has a high amount of farnesene as a component in the essential oil (8.8% of the total oil is farnesene). None of the USA high alpha-acids varieties has farnesene in the oil. Further, `H900322-4` (hereinafter “H900322-4”) has a higher cohumulone content (44.0%) of the alpha-acids than any of the USA high alpha-acids varieties. Harvest maturity is medium-late, with `Nugget` and following `Galena` by about 1 week. Cone size is medium to large yet compact and ovoid, and easily mechancially harvested. Cones are non-shattering, and have bracts that are of a darker green color than bracteoles, resulting in a striped appearance.

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The Beauty of Hops

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An Australian beer store, the Beer Cartel, created a pretty cool infographic entitled the Beauty of Hops for an informative blog post, the beautiful marriage of hops and craft beer, which provides a nice overview of hops. Assuming it’s correct, I don’t think I realized Ethiopia is the third-largest hop producing nation. That was a surprise.

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Click here to see the infographic full size.

Patent No. 2336280A: Hop Cluster Stemmer

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Today in 1943, US Patent 2336280 A was issued, another invention of George E. Miller, for his “Hop Cluster Stemmer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to hop picking machines.

Hops grow on vines which are trained vertically on strings attached .to’ horizontal wires suspended about eighteen feet above the ground. At harvest time the vines are pulled down and hauled to a plant where they are run through a machine which picks the hops from the vines. The picked hops are then separated from the leaves, etc.

From the time the vine is pulled down in the hop field to the time it is fed into the picking machine, it receives considerable handling in the course of which clusters become detached from the vine. A cluster comprises an arm or branch of the vine bearing a cluster of hops. Heretofore the only satisfactory way to salvage the hops on these clusters was to pick them off by hand-an expensive, laborious task.

The object of this invention is to provide a machine for doing this work.

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Patent No. 2139029A: Hop Picking Machine

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Today in 1938, US Patent 2139029 A was issued, an invention of George E. Miller, for his “Hop Picking Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to a hop picking machine, and especially to improvements in the construction and operation thereof.

The object of the present invention is generally 5 to improve and simplify the construction and operation of hop picking machines; to provide a machine which will not only pick or remove the hops from the vines, but also from arms and clusters broken and pulled off the vines during the picking operation; to provide a machine which employs belts and cooperating drums mounted above them, said belts and cooperating drums .being provided with picking fingers which comb a the vines from opposite sides to remove the hops; to provide an endless flexible diamond-‘ meshed wire screen belt which is disposed below the picking belts, and cooperates therewith, to pick arms and break up clusters; to provide a machine which is divided into two picking zones, 80 one zone’in which the picking fingers are comparatively widely separated and where the major portion of the hops are removed, and a second zone in which the picking fingers are closely spaced to strip the vines of the remaining hops; to provide a picking machine which provides almost immediate liberation or removal of the hops from the picking zones, so as to prevent damage or breakage of the hops after they have been removed from the vines by the picking fingers; to provide a picking machine which tends to flatten out and spread the vines as they pass through and between the picking fingers. so as to insure a more thorough picking or removal of the hops; to provide means for separating the hops from leaves which are accidentally removed during the picking operation; and further, to provide means for automatically releasing and removing the vines from the machine when picked.

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Patent No. 2529882A: Hop Strainer

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Today in 1950, US Patent 2529882 A was issued, an invention of Carl F. Mittman, for his “Hop Strainer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to strainers, clarifiers and. filters, and more particularly to a combined hop strainer and trub clarifier or separator for use in the brewing industry.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved strainer, clarifier and separator with which the cooked hops and wort may be separated continuously, completely and rapidly; with which a major amount of the trub, that is, the fine solids of the cooked hops and wort mixture, will be effectively separated from the wort; with which no sugar coating on the separating surface can take place; with which the separating surfaces will be automatically cleaned; with which all parts of the apparatus Will be easily accessible for cleaning and collection of stale wort is prevented; which will have maximum capacity with minimum overall dimensions and low cost of operation; and which will be relatively simple, compact, efficient, practical and inexpensive.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved simple, inexpensive and continuous method of separating cooked hops and wort; with which maximum recovery of the wort is .possible; and which will require only relatively simple apparatus.

Another object is to provide an improved method and apparatus for continuously separating cooked hops from wort; with which the separation Will occur upon a clean and sterile screen; with which the screen will be conditioned continuously and automatically during use.

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Patent No. 2181931A: Process For Extracting The Essential Principles Of Hops

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Today in 1939, US Patent 2181931 A was issued, an invention of Lyndon D. Wood, assigned to National Hops Lab, Inc., for his “Process for Extracting the Essential Principles of Hops.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My process is essentially as follows:

My first procedure is to suitably prepare the hops by pulverizing them to’ a degree of fineness sufficient to crush all of the seeds which they contain and finely enough so that they will pass a 20 mesh screen or sieve. This may be done in any one of several types of mills which can be adapted for the work such as a ball mill, plate mill, roller mill, or a cutting mill, or a combination of cutting and hammer mill. The mill should be enclosed so that no air current are present in which the aroma of the hops can be dispersed. From the mill the prepared or pulverized hops should be conveyed to a closed tank or receptacle where the solvent is applied.

When old hops are used in which the lupulin has hardened and particularly those in which a rancid odor has occurred from the oxidation of hop oil, I employ activated carbon, which may be made from the vegetable, fibrous material of the hops residue after extraction has been made.

This activated carbon may be used in two ways. (a) By mixing it in finely powdered form with the pulverized hops while they are in a dry state.

When this method is employed ounce of activated carbon will be used to each pound of pulverized hops. The prepared hops should be stirred and shaken until the activated carbon has been thoroughly mixed with them, then be permitted to stand in a closed container for a period of time not less than two hours. The activated carbon experiments have shown restores the odor of fresh hops.

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Patent No. 2772975A: Injecting Of Hops In The Brewing Of Beer

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Today in 1956, US Patent 2772975 A was issued, an invention of Frank Otto Rickers, assigned to the Geo Wiedemann Brewing Co. Inc., for his “Injecting Of Hops In The Brewing Of Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

It is an object of the present invention to provide for the addition of the hops to a brew kettle in a manner such that the hops will be uniformly distributed through the brew and for greatly increased control over this step of the brewing so any deteriorating effect is prevented by storing in cold temperature so that the loss of hops up the flue will be minimized. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide process to the end that each successive brew will have undergone the same length of time in the cooking of the same amount of hops.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention I provide means for insuring that the hops, as they are added to the kettle, are wetted down and caused to enter below the surface of the brew in a rather closely confined area and I provide for a localized ebullition and circulation of the brew such that the lumps or fragments of hops are carried by this localized ebullition and circulation down into the bottom of the kettle whence they are uniformly distributed by the general circulation in the kettle.

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Patent No. PP13311P2: Hop plant named ‘Millennium-Late’

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Today in 2002, US Patent PP13311 P2 was issued, an invention of Eugene G. Probasco, assigned to John I. Haas, Inc., for his “Hop plant named ‘Millennium-Late.'” Here’s the Abstract:

A new and distinct triploid hop, Humulus lupulus, plant named ‘Millennium-Late’ selected from the progeny of tetraploid ‘Nugget’×proprietary line No. ‘833-53M’, characterized by a high percentage of alpha-acids, a higher alpha/beta ratio, significantly higher percentages of humulene and caryophyllene, coupled with a high yield and resistance to powdery mildew. Harvest maturity is late, similar to ‘Nugget’ and following ‘Galena’ by about 1 week.

A few weeks before, also in 2002, Probasco was also granted Patent Nos. PP13128P2, PP13129P2 & PP13132P2: Millennium Hops, specifically for Millennium-48, Millennium-MiddleLate and Millennium-44.

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Patent No. 2620064A: Hop Stem Remover

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Today in 1952, US Patent 2620064 A was issued, an invention of Edouard Thys, for his “Hop Stem Remover.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention is directed to, and it is an object to provide, a novel apparatus for removing free stems or twigs from hops during the course of `processing the latter after harvest; the hops having been detached from but remaining intermingled with such stems or twigs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hop `stem remover which is operative to remove both forked or crooked and straight stems from the hops; straight stems being the most difficult to separate from the hops.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hop stem remover which includes a novel assembly of a table, a foraminous conveyor having a run thereof working along the top of the table, and a feeder positioned to deliver mixed hops and stems or twigs on the conveyor; the stems or twigs remaining on. the conveyor, while the hops pass through the forminations onto the table. whence they feed to one edge of the latter and discharge downwardly therefrom.

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Patent No. 2138529A: Hop Separator

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Today in 1938, US Patent 2138529 A was issued, an invention of Edouard Thys, for his “Hop Separator.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to separators and especially to a machine for separating leaves and like foreign material from hops, the present application being a continuation in part of my co-pending application entitled Hop picking machine, filed November 13, 1935, Serial Number 49,531.

The picking of hops by means of machinery is now a comparatively old art as machine picking has been in continuous use on a comparatively a large scale in California and other States at least since 1910. The type of machine generally employed consists of a series of revolving drums from the surface of which project V-shaped flexible wire fingers. The vines to be picked are l passed over and under the drums by a conveyor and as the vines pass over and under the drums they are combed by the V-shaped fingers and the hops are removed during the combing operation. A great many leaves and stems are also m removed and some of the hops are broken, thereby forming petals, hence after the picking operation has been completed it becomes necessary’ to separate the hops from the leaves, petals and stems as the cleaner the hops the higher the market value of the same.

The present invention relates. to a machine for separating the hops from the leaves, petals, stems, etc., the object being to improve and simplify the separation of hops of this character; to provide a pervious inclined belt upon which the hops, leaves, etc., are delivered; to provide means in the form of fans, or the like, placed under the belt so as to maintain a sufficient suction to cause the. lighter material, such as leaves, petals, etc., to adhere to the surface of the belt while the inclination of the belt will permit the hops to roll down and off the belt; to arrange the belt in such a manner that the air blast produced by the discharge side of the fans may be utilized to release the leaves, petals, etc., from the belt; and, further, to provide means for adjusting the inclination of the belt to insure rolling and gravity separation of the hops from the leaves and other organic matter.

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